UNDER THE BLUE SKIES OF AGOK

PhotographerAlec Von Bargen

Prize2nd Place in Deeper Perspective / Deeper Perspective

City/CountryAkumal Norte, Mexico

Photo Date2016

Story

The series 'Under the Blue Skies of Agok' was taken in South Sudan, the newest country on earth. Internally displaced people and nomads in Agok deal with health care exclusion, endemic/epidemic, famine and armed conflict. 'Genocide' is a word being used more frequently to describe what is happening in the country. At nights, victims and patients sleeping in makeshift clinics dream under the synthetic blue skies of mosquito netting. The light creeps through, casting shadows and silhouettes which become hauntingly poetic.

Entry Description

The series 'Under the Blue Skies of Agok' was taken in South Sudan, the newest country on earth. Internally displaced people and nomads in Agok deal with health care exclusion, endemic/epidemic, famine and armed conflict. 'Genocide' is a word being used more frequently to describe what is happening in the country. At nights, victims and patients sleeping in makeshift clinics dream under the synthetic blue skies of mosquito netting. The light creeps through, casting shadows and silhouettes which become hauntingly poetic.

Story

The series 'Under the Blue Skies of Agok' was taken in South Sudan, the newest country on earth. Internally displaced people and nomads in Agok deal with health care exclusion, endemic/epidemic, famine and armed conflict. 'Genocide' is a word being used more frequently to describe what is happening in the country. At nights, victims and patients sleeping in makeshift clinics dream under the synthetic blue skies of mosquito netting. The light creeps through, casting shadows and silhouettes which become hauntingly poetic.

About Photographer

Using a tiny point-and-shoot camera, Alec Von Bargen seeks to capture the realities of our world. Each panel of digital photographs represents a collection of moments, brief glimpses into our most solitary journeys and the ways these paths inevitably intersect with the outer world. These are Von Bargenâ€™s conversations, a capturing of single instances resonating true with their historical, political, and social contexts. Alec Von Bargen has participated in many solo and group exhibitions all over the world and he has won awards in some of the principal photographic competitions of international importance. His work is included in private and public collections worldwide and he recently exhibited as part of the oficial selection at the 54th Venice Biennale, has shown at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and has been repeatedly invited to the International Festival of Photography in Arles. Alec Von Bargen works all over the world but resides in the Mayan jungle near Akumal, Mexico.